Lola – Weeks 2 & 3

05Dec

Things aren’t going as well as I had hoped. Over all Lola is still a pretty good dog, and she has definately improved, but she is really used to getting away with stuff and she is constantly trying to push my limits and see if I will catch her in it. Like jumping and pulling on the leash and “little” stuff like that. At one point this week I really wanted to get my hands on her previous owners and just strangle them. It is obvious that she is smart, and that she learns pretty quick, but she does need a firm hand. Otherwise she will just run all over you and do whatever she wants. But if someone had taken the time when she was young to teach her she wouldn’t have all these bad habits.

Part of the problem is that it is so cold out that she isn’t able to go outside and play like that first week. This morning it was in the single digits. So we’ve pretty much been just going out for potty breaks and a really quick walk at night.

I think I’m going to have to find something to do inside to get all of that energy out. I’ve heard that training tires them out almost as much as “physical” exercise. So maybe I need to just do something like that.

I’ve come to the realization that I really need to use treats as rewards more often. Even though she showed initial response with just a vocal command, she now tends to ignore them if she wants to. It’s been frustrating because she knows what I want, but she just doesn’t want to do it. Like she knows how to sit on command, but now she’ll only do it when she wants to or with a reward (although I don’t even have to tell her to sit when it’s time to go outside, she just does it automatically).

So for the time being I think I need to carry treats around and use them every time I want her to do something. Because until she understands that when I tell her to do something, sit for example, that she needs to do it when I ask, not the tenth time or when I force her to. Until then I’ll need to bribe her to do it. And I’ll have to do it every single time.
I can understand some of it, like when we are outside and she doesn’t want to sit on the cold ground or snow. I get that, and I’m not asking her to put her butt all the way on the ground, but she needs to at least attempt to do what I ask.

Dealing with all of those little things is really tiring. More mentally tiring then anything physical. The good thing is that she falls asleep at about 7 or 8 at night, but by that time I’m just totally exhausted from continually telling her “off!” or “no don’t do that” or “stop pulling!”.

I think in eventually she’ll be a great dog, once she learns that I won’t let her get away with bad behaviour and she gets over all this puppy energy, but until then I think I’ll be pulling my hair out on a daily basis.

Sebastian has been doing better. He still won’t come out by himself when Lola is out, but if I bring him out and put him on the back of the couch (his favorite spot to hang out) then he is fine. Some times he will even stay out when I take Lola outside rather then making a mad dash for the bedroom right away. He’s even taken to stretching out and falling asleep on the back of the couch. So that tells you how relaxed he is, or how trusting he is that I will protect him. He is still sometimes scared if Lola is running around or doing something active, but he doesn’t run he just watches with wide eyes.

I’m WillowMoon

You've come to my little corner of the internet. I'm a tree-hugging, nature loving pagan living in the northern midwest. I do a lot of reading and I love to curl up in front of my TV to watch my favorite shows. I also am a bit of a geek, so you'll see a bit of internet-related stuff here as well.
But mostly I'm just a girl that's trying to find her way in life.
~Blessed Be~